But I'm a National Champion!
"But I'm a National Champion!" is the third episode of the third season of Dance Moms. It aired on January 15, 2013. Synopsis The original Moms return; Sophia Lucia remains with Abby; the Moms must face Abby's wrath after being on strike for two weeks. Competition Attended In10sity in Youngstown, Ohio, on October 28, 2012https://stambaughauditorium.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=516345 Weekly Dances Summary Abby greets Sophia, Bella, Kaeli and their mothers. The original moms and girls show up in the parking lot. Kelly says she's given up on Abby treating her kids better, but her children miss the studio and even Abby. Christi thinks they have to go crawling back to Abby since they had been replaced. Abby calls Shelly because Ally is late. Shelly tells her they went back to New Orleans because of the harsh conversation with Bella and Kaeli's moms (Marcia and Gloria) on why the group won second. Abby says Ally was great, and tells Gloria and Marcia that they were out of the group, and Bella and Kaeli act upset. Abby tells Sophia that since she was the only left, she had to win the entire division. The moms enter the studio (except for Kelly, who thinks they would have a better chance of reconciliation if she didn't go in yet.) Christi explains the annual contract they had to sign. Abby tells them they wouldn't get pass the front desk if they didn't sign them. Abby has the moms choose between supporting Kelly and letting their own daughters return to dancing. Jill and Melissa crack first, then Holly and Christi come to an agreement to also sign the contract. Kelly goes into the studio and Abby asks why she wanted to come back, but Kelly tells her Brooke and Paige wanted to come back, not her. The moms go into the pyramid and Kelly, Brooke, and Paige follow, Kelly giving Abby her signed contract. Abby tells them about the the previous competition, then shows them concealed pictures which she says is not a pyramid, which has Sophia on top and the other girls (except Brooke and Paige) on the bottom; everyone except Sophia is told they are on probation. Abby tells the girls about the new competition and dances. She gives Sophia a solo, which Christi thinks is unfair. Abby doesn't want to give out anymore solos, but does, giving Chloe a contemporary dance; Christi says this is actually a punishment, since Chloe will have to compete against Sophia. Chloe says that Abby keeps telling the girls that Sophia was better than them, and takes it as motivation to prove she can become as good. Jill asks Jackie about why Sophia needs to do so many pirouettes, and Jackie says there's a world record Sophia can consistently break; she also compliments the other girls for being really good. Christi tells Jackie that she read what the harsh things Jackie said about a girl named Mia in Miami. Jackie tells them not to believe everything. Abby rehearses Chloe's solo, which she says is about being left in the shadows of another girl who's famous, which used to be Maddie but is now Sophia; but Abby cuts the practice short to give a gymnastics private to Sophia. Christi complains, and agrees with Kelly that Melissa and Maddie are happy not to have a solo this particular week. Meanwhile, Melissa busies herself with doing maid-cleaning work to regain favor with Abby. Christi suggests to Kelly schemes to get rid of Jackie, including slipping permanent glue into her false eyelashes, or spiking her drink with drugs; Kelly laughs and rejects the ideas as evil. One day to the competition, Abby reveals she was nervous about the girls' dancing. The Moms say Abby is crabby because she needs a boyfriend, and Kelly says that Abby is actually pretty but her personality drives men away. Abby has Gianna run up and tell Jackie she really wanted her to watch instead of chatting with the moms; Abby says she's not going to let the other Moms drive Jackie and her daughter away. Maddie good-naturedly admits she is jealous of Sophia because Sophia could do fifty-four turns, but she couldn't. The Moms ask Jackie about home-schooling Sophia, which Holly (as a professional educator) says is killing her. In her most high-pitched voice, Sophia claims she sometimes teaches little kids at her own studio and is really mean to them; Abby gives her a high-five. Abby asks Christi about a number count of pictures of some kind, and Christi says she can't count that high with her public school education; but adds that at least she wasn't home-schooled, or she couldn't even count to ten. Christi thinks Chloe looks defeated, and Chloe says she feels pressured to go against Sophia. Abby thinks the group dance looks horrible and that there were too many dancers. She decides to have the moms play casting director, but Kelly thinks that the moms would choose their own daughter. Abby gets rid of Brooke, but Kelly thinks it would make more sense to get rid of Mackenzie since she wasn't at the other girls' level. At the competition, Abby says she is nervous. Abby rehearses Sophia's solo and ignores the other girls. Sophia performs her dance before Chloe goes on. Christi hopes the judges would see the emotion Chloe had while performing, which is something she doesn't think Sophia has. Chloe tells Christi that she let her down, and her mom responds this is wrong, and hugs her. Abby gives Sophia a correction, then tells her that the judges were freaking out over her. As the girls get ready for the group dance, Kelly doesn't think that the group was complete without Brooke, and she was going to do everything she could to get Brooke back on the team. Melissa says her biggest concern about the dance was the carpet, which was the thing the girls hadn't rehearsed. Mackenzie has trouble getting the carpet across the stage. Jill thinks that the dance was not planned out and that Abby had just thrown something together. At the awards, Chloe wins second runner-up and Sophia wins first, which Abby says there was no doubt about in her mind. Chloe wins an expressive heart award and Chloe says it was a good moment for her. The group dance wins first place. Kelly comments about the fact the last group dance won second, but they won first. Abby says that she was happy the judges weren't looking at the mistakes the girls made during the group dance. She then tells Chloe she was a mess with her flexibility and balance, and Christi responds that this is why she pays Abby. Christi and Abby get into an argument, Christi calling Abby a plagiarist since Sophia wasn't Abby's student, and Abby tells Christi that Chloe was awful. Dialogue Trivia *'Pyramid': *no pyramid this week *Kelly, Brooke and Paige return to the studio. *Sophia thought it was funny that this episode portrayed her as having so little schooling, and wished that were really true. She added that besides seeing a teacher at least twice a week in one-on-one sessions, she does around six hours of homework per day.https://twitter.com/MsSophiaLucia/status/291387980738854913 *Jill comments on Jackie's street clothing, but Sophia has stated that the producers had Jackie wear that type of clothing.http://chloelukaslak.tumblr.com/post/39440052785/sophia-omg *Abby says Chloe's solo is contemporary, but it is listed as lyrical. *Sophia's dance is said to be contemporary and jazz. *Christi mentions that Jackie wrote something about a girl named Mia from Miami, which is most likely Mia Diaz. *Christi reveals that she has friends in California, many of which have warned her about Jackie. Image Gallery S03-E03 09-18.jpg S03-E03 09-21.jpg S03-E03 09-22.jpg S03-E03 28-56.jpg S03-E03 29-21.jpg S03-E03 30-25.jpg S03-E03 30-27.jpg S03-E03 35-10.jpg S03-E03 35-55.jpg S03-E03 40-06.jpg S03-E03 41-58.jpg Video Gallery External Links *YouTube amateur videos from competition - including Nia's solo "Cathedral" *Alternative YouTube amateur videos (scroll near bottom) References Category:Episodes Category:Group Dances Category:Chloe Solos Category:Nia Solos Category:No Trios Category:No Duets Category:In10sity Category:Season Three Episodes Category:Youngstown Category:Ohio Category:October Competition Category:Sophia Lucia Solos Category:Jazz Category:Contemporary Category:1st Place Wins Category:3rd Place Wins